Apparatus and method for visually inspecting gemstones

Abstract

There is disclosed an apparatus for visually inspecting gemstones. The apparatus contains a first light source, a sample stage adapted to receive a gemstone thereon, and a rotating stage located below the sample stage. The rotating stage is adapted to rotate relative to the sample stage. Embodiments of the invention therefore provide a portable and automatic gemstone inspecting apparatus that provides multiple inspection methods centrally without the need to use other external devices.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to inspection of gemstones, and in particular to the use of light sources for illuminating the gemstones to obtain optical properties of the gemstone for inspection.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION[0002]Jewelry inspection tools are widely used in analyzing the quality of gemstones, such as to distinguish between natural diamonds and fake diamonds, or between natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds. There are developed many inspection methods for using with jewelry inspection tools based on optical properties of the gemstones, such as white light imaging and ultraviolet (UV) imaging. Because of the optical properties of the synthetic diamonds being different from natural diamonds, and those between fake diamonds and natural diamonds, the various inspection methods would assist a user to obtain images of the diamond under different types of light illuminations, thus to determine if the diamond is fake, synthetic or natural.[0003]However, convention...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a portable and automatic gemstone inspecting apparatus that offers multiple inspection methods integrated into a single device without the need for multiple inspecting apparatus. It provides comprehensive information for natural / synthetic / fake diamond inspection with six different inspection methods, which can be completed quickly. The apparatus can distinguish multiple types of gemstones and remove false results caused by special or irregular cases. The user can select the desired inspection methods, or the apparatus can automatically perform all the required inspections with no user intervention. The apparatus is compact and easy to use for retailers, jewelry shops, and consumers in jewelry shows. It uses a battery that eliminates the need for power connections and allows for convenient inspection immediately.

Problems solved by technology

However, conventional jewelry inspection tools are bulky and costly, for example when they use microscopes for the user to inspect the gemstones.

In addition, conventionally it is very difficult to accurately distinguish a synthetic diamond from a natural diamond, because the physical differences between synthetic and natural diamond is very small, and there are many special and irregular cases.

In order to get a reliable inspection result, frequently multiple test methods should be used for validation, but it is extremely difficult to integrate more than one type of inspection methods in a single device, as different inspection methods may need different light sources to generate lights at different wavelengths.

Some of the inspection methods are also not static, meaning that the light illuminating the gemstone and / or reflected from the gemstone need to be moving in order to examine the optical properties of the gemstone, which further give rise to difficulties in implementing a single jewelry inspection tool achieving different inspection methods.

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